I come from the film and TV world. Pretty much the same way of thinking applies to projects in that space -- with a key difference being that the projects there

I come from the film and TV world. Pretty much the same way of thinking applies to projects in that space -- with a key difference being that the projects there are usually zero-sum. Only one TV network can win the bid on a hot property. So you end up with insane bidding wars on pitches, scripts, and projects that get hot. Film is sometimes slightly different, in that two or more studios can co-finance a film and share in distribution profits (though this occurs through convoluted means, and for all intents and purposes, there is usually a clear winner among the herd). Ultimately, however, the same power law usually applies. One hit is often said to cover the cost of 10 or more failures, and then some. (Of course, the converse is sometimes true: one massive failure can tank a studio's year, and occasionally even a studio.) I'll tell you this much: Disney doesn't give half a shit about any and all box office failures in fiscal 2015 when "The Force Awakens" made $920M+ at the domestic box office, to say nothing of its billion+ more overseas and untold billions in merch. And on any given year, if it had the choice, it would much rather have one hypothetical "Force Awakens" and a handful of flops than, say, a better average return per movie without an outsized monster hit.